Shackles Hidden in the Leaves
by dreadlord789
Summary: It was over. He had reunited team seven through his dedication and hard work, but then his world fell down around him. Hearts will break and bonds will be broken, but this isn't the end of Uzumaki Naruto, this is only the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

******Hey guys, sorry about not really updating any other stories in a while, but it takes a lot of time and energy to continue on with a story, and right now i have neither of those, so i will update when i can.**

******Anyway, here's a little something that i've been thinking about for a while now, and i am excited with the possibilities for this story.**

******Beware, some scenes will be AU, so please dont leave a review telling me how some scene doesnt make sense or something like that...**

******Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto**

It was another clear sunny day as Naruto made his way slowly to the Konohagakure gates, and he had never been happier. Why was he so happy? Well, it was because he had just fulfilled the promise of a lifetime.

He had defeated and brought back Uchiha Sasuke, and had reunited team seven!

He couldn't keep the grin from spread across his face if he even wanted to, he was just too damn proud of himself. He took in a deep breath of air and slowly let it out with a contented look on his face.

"This is the dawn of a new day, the start of something new. I can feel it!"

As if in response to his outburst, the semi-conscious teen on his back mumbled several words. "I'll…. I'll make you pay… For taking my ambition… away…"

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed. "Shut up Sasuke. You lost, so be a man and deal with it. I told you I would break your legs and drag you back half dead if I had to, and you made it so I had to. So really this is your entire fault."

Naruto just drowned out the rest of his ramblings and eventually forgot all about the person on his back when the village gates came into sight, and so he put on another burst of speed. He soon came to the scene of a small group of chorus of cheers. But he knew they weren't for him, not yet at least. They were cheering for the boy on his back, cheering for the self-conceited thought of once again having the Uchiha clan back in Konoha.

But Naruto didn't care at all, not one bit. He had done what he had set out to, and accomplished all of his promises. He watched as a medical team approached him, but he waved them off.

"Take him first, I've already mostly healed."

The medic-nin shared a look between each other before they made a move to acquire the raven-haired boy. As they put him on a stretcher, Naruto spared them one last look.

"Oh, and you guys should probably set his legs first, they are a tad broken."

And with that Naruto walked off, moving past the crowd to head home to get his hard-earned rest. He didn't even notice the glares of several of the other people mixed within the crowd.

_Later That Night_

Naruto awoke from his sleep to a loud banging at his door. He looked at the small clock on his nightstand.

"1 A.M.? Really!?"

He grumbled and threw off the covers, slipping on a shirt and marching to his front door. He unlatched his door and threw open the door.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doin-"

He ducked underneath a punch and jumped back slightly, thanking his ninja reflexes to avoid a blow to the head.

Naruto was now wide awake and turned his attention towards his team mate. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

Sakura marched right up to him and smacked him across the face. "Do you even know what you did!?"

Naruto hadn't been in the best of moods as of late due to the fatigue of non-stop fighting and a severe lack of sleep, so he wasn't really what most would call a "patient person" right now. So when he was smacked across the face, hard mind you, he was using most of his cognitive strength to keep himself from doing something he would later regret. Apparently, Sakura took this as an excuse to keep going.

"You broke his legs in three places! Three! You promised me you would bring him back to me, to us! All you did was beat on him until he was too injured to move! They say that his growth plates are all fucked up, and he might never walk normally again!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the ground for a few moments, and turned on his heel to make his way back to his bed.

"Get out. Get out right now."

Sakura saw red, and punched him in the back of the chest as he walked away, right over where Sasuke's first attack had landed. Pain shot through Naruto's body as his vision faded to white, and he collapsed into a heap right then and there.

'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It… It feels like my entire body is on fire… Oh Kami it hurts so much!'

Sakura just watched as her team mate writhed on the ground in pain, clutching at his chest frantically. After a few minutes he managed to stand up on shaky legs with staggered breathing, and then he turned his attention to his attacker. Sakura stared in horror as his eyes turned a deep scarlet color, almost like the color of blood, and he clenched his fists so tight, she began to see blood leaking out dripping onto the floor.

She took a step back when he took a menacing step forward. "**Sakura… I will give you **_**one**_** more chance to get the HELL out of my home!**"

Sakura held her hands close to her chest. She had never seen this side of her team mate, the more feral side, the Jinchuriki side.

"N-N-Naruto… I'm sor-"

Naruto moved next to her and punched a hole in his wall. "**Save your damn excuses! You know damn well you aren't sorry! You don't give a shit about me, and I'm willing to bet the only reason you are even here is to vent some of your anger over the fact that you were too damn weak to bring Sasuke back yourself!**"

Tears began to prickle the side of Sakura's eyes as his words hit home, because she knew it was true. She was angry with herself for being too weak to be of any use to the team over the last few months, but she had been trying to change, and she thought she was making progress, wasn't she?

Naruto wasn't done though. He got his face right in front of hers and growled. "**And the first thing I do tomorrow will be to demand a team transfer.**" His face adopted a feral grin. "**And that's the promise of a lifetime. Now, get the FUCK out.**"

With that Sakura bolted from the position she was in and ran out the door in a fit of tears. Naruto just growled at her retreating form and shut the door behind her, laying down on his bed as a lone tear ran down his cheek.

_The Next Day_

"And I told _you_, it just simply doesn't work that way Naruto! You can't just change teams like that, unless there is an actual grievance between the team members themselves that would detract from the ability to complete missions."

Naruto sighed as he stared at the blonde Hokage in front of him. "Baa-chan, I will put this as delicately as I can. If I remain on team seven, this is what will happen. I won't train with them, I won't associate with them, in fact, I won't even acknowledge their existences. In the event that we are sent on missions, I will make it my own personal goal to sabotage said mission in every way, shape, and form in order to assure the failure of said mission."

Tsunade folded her hands in front of her and stared down the blonde Genin in the room. "Naruto, did you just threaten me?"

Naruto leaned forward. "No, it was no threat at all. It was a promise."

With that Naruto stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Tsunade still at her desk. On Naruto's way out he bumped into Shizune, but instead of apologizing like he normally did, he stormed past her and kept going. Shizune had a very odd look when she walked in the Hokage office, giving a curious look to her mentor and mother-figure.

"What's wrong with Naruto? I've never seen him so upset before."

Tsunade sighed and took out the forms for team changes, handing them to Shizune. "Well, it would seem that Sakura made it her goal to push Naruto to the brink last night with harsh words and fists, so now he just finished up demanding I transfer him to another team or he will start sabotaging his missions."

Shizune sighed and began to help her sensei fill out the necessary papers. "Well, I just hope that Hinata can help him through this. I hate seeing him upset, and if anyone can calm him down, it's her."

It's true; Hinata and Naruto were a recent couple, brought together by a chance confession before the finals of the Chunnin exams. It had caught Naruto off guard, especially since he was reluctant to let someone get that close to him, not to mention it was quite distracting during his fight with Neji. By the time the invasion was over, he had come to realize that he _did_ want to give her a chance after seeing what someone without love was like, and he was glad he did. Though they haven't spent too much time together as of yet really, he was sure that she was special, and he had the feeling that she could actually be 'the one', a comforting thought that usually brought tingly feelings to his stomach. They still hadn't really told everyone yet that they were a couple except for those closest to them, but Naruto knew that she was very serious about him.

Back to the blonde in question, he was looking for his special Hyuga girlfriend. All he wanted to do was run up to her, hug her tightly, and spend the day with her forgetting about everything that had happened in the past few days.

He had looked in most places she would usually be, her team's training area, her favorite bakery, where he stopped and picked up a few of her favorite treats for her, and even stopped by her clan compound. Now most times he went to Hinata's home he was usually met with a few harsh glances, maybe a curt Hyuga or two while in the compound, but this time he was flat out refused entrance, and when he asked why, they told him it was none of his concern.

Now he was just aimlessly walking around Konoha, trying to find something to lift his mood, but his attitude was quickly spiraling downhill. And that was when he spotted them; the person he was willing to call his girlfriend, the girl he was willing to entrust with his heart, with her feral looking team mate Kiba. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem since they were friends, but he had his arm around her shoulders talking animatedly, while she giggled at whatever he said.

Naruto's blood ran cold, and a strange feeling clawed its way up into his chest, piercing his heart. Naruto subconsciously gripped his shirt over his heart and closed his eyes, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill forth. After several seconds he managed to steady his breathing somewhat to see if maybe it was all a mistake, maybe he just saw a misunderstanding between close friends. So he once again gazed at the sight before him, but now it was worse than before, because his gaze settled on the ring finger of Hinata's left hand, where he found a little band of golden metal.

Naruto dropped the bag of cold cinnamon rolls, starting to hyperventilate and mumbled. "No…"

He gripped his head and shook it back and forth. "no, No, NO, NO!"

He couldn't stop the torrent of emotions anymore, and they burst forward past the floodgates and stained his cheeks with tears. When he looked up at his now ex-girlfriend, he saw that she was deathly pale with her hand covering her mouth as she stared at Naruto. The blonde couldn't take her gaze, so he turned on his heel and walked back to his apartment a broken man.

He jumped across the rooftops and stumbled through his door and slammed it behind him, locking several of the deadbolts on the door. He fell down on his couch and just stared at the door, unsure of how to deal with his feelings. This was part of the reason he was reluctant to let someone into his life like this, because he got hurt, he always got hurt. He was the village scapegoat, just someone to be used for their worth only to be tossed aside when they were no longer needed.

"DAMMIT!"

He jumped up and punched the wall, making a fist-sized crater in the wall. Then he made another, and another, letting the blood fall from his fists like the tears from his eyes. His shoulders shuddered as he tried to hold back the sobs.

"No more… I won't live like this anymore!"

He had finally come to it, the thing he had been contemplating for the past few months. He was sick and tired of the hate, the glares, and the persecution; so he was going to leave for good. He knew he would be hunted like a dog, but he also knew that if there was one person who would be able to disappear, it was him.

Taking a deep breath he brought his hands up in the familiar cross seal and summoned over a dozen Kage Bunshin.

"You all know what to do."

He was met with nods before they all walked out the door and jumped away to accomplish their specific tasks. He needed a way to get stronger on his own, and what better way than with the knowledge of the very people who made his life hell?

Naruto walked into his bedroom and pulled out a large scroll, unrolling it on his kitchen table and immediately began writing down the necessary symbols for a sealing scroll of large proportions. It was one of the things Jiraiya taught him during their search for Tsunade.

Naruto's face fell as he thought about his new sensei. He had been immediately sent out of the village once again almost as soon as Tsunade was inaugurated as Hokage, probably the work of the council. But Naruto didn't care anymore; it was just another precious person that was taken away by people who wanted to make Naruto's life a living hell.

But now it didn't matter. His team mates abandoned him, his so called 'girlfriend' abandoned him, and now his village no longer had anything left for him to stay for. He fulfilled his promises to those people he cared about, freed himself from the shackles of relationships, he was finally able to forge his own life. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he was going to take it.

Wiping his eyes from the last of the stray tears still spilling down his face, he began to set items atop the scrolls surface to begin the process of packing everything he owned.

He finished packing his entire life into a scroll in less than 20 minutes, and for the life of him he couldn't help but feel a sense of release. He was finally going to be living for himself, for his own happiness. He strapped the large scroll securely to the small of his back with his backpack over his shoulder. He then put a hooded cloak over all of his belongings.

He took one last look at his apartment, and he could honestly say he wouldn't miss the place on bit. With a sigh he made his way to his door and grasped the doorknob.

He wasn't even remotely prepared for a person to be at the door when he threw it open, least of all it be one of the people responsible for his current course of actions. Naruto came face to face with Hinata, clutching the now dirty bad of cold cinnamon rolls, with what appeared to be both a surprised and guilty look on her face at the same time.

Naruto took one look at her then turned his face towards the ground, afraid that if he gazed at her too long he would lose the will to leave all together. He forced down the emotions bubbling up and pushed past her on his way down the stairs and headed to the village gate, or he would have if a hand placed on his shoulder holding him in place.

"Naruto-kun…"

Said blonde shrugged off her touch but otherwise stayed where he was. He was silent for a long while, glaring down at the ground while he tried to come up with something to say to her.

"Why… Why would you do that to me? Was I just the flavor of the month, or was I just a means to an end? Just a way to gain a little experience before you decided to move on and get engaged."

Naruto heard light sniffling behind him, but he didn't feel any compassion for her, he couldn't, he wouldn't. Not anymore.

"It wasn't like that Naruto-kun, I swear!"

Naruto closed his eyes and fought back the tears. "Then why!? What changed!? Was it something I did?"

Hinata trembled between sobs. "No! It... It wasn't you… The elders… They told me that… If I didn't accept the… Inuzuka's marriage contract… That they would brand me!"

Naruto took a deep breath. "So… That's it huh? No fighting back, no moment of courage? Just going to sit back and take it? What about me? What about us?"

He didn't receive any answer other than light crying, so he pressed on.

"Or was it that you were just so happy with the idea of letting that mutt rut atop you that you just decided to kick me to the curb?"

Hinata sniffed and wiped her eyes. "That's not fair… You know that isn't fair! I've always loved you! But you don't know what the seal is like! You don't know what it's like to…"

Hinata trailed off when she realized where she was going with that. She knew that of all people in the entire village, he would understand the most.

Naruto froze. "What… I don't know what it's like to what? To have a seal on me? To be hated for something I can't control!? To be the one everyone turns to when they need to vent their frustration!? Don't you ever try to justify your cowardice!"

Naruto knew that calling her a coward was a low blow, but he didn't care. She wasn't fighting fair either.

"You know Hinata, I guess you're right. I don't know what it's like to have a family, or have someone expect things from me, or have someone work hard to put a roof over my head. But one thing I DO know is that I would rather die than hurt those close to me, even if it meant standing up to that family, because those who don't are worse than trash. Goodbye Hinata."

Before she could react she was met with a swift chop to the back of the neck and unceremoniously hit the walkway. Naruto looked at her form one last time before he closed his eyes and turned away from her and jumped away towards the gate, not able to bring himself to hear her whimpers any more.

When he reached the gate he found the two guards unconscious and snoring loudly with empty cups of tea in front of them. He looked at his Kage Bunshin which disappeared with a nod, dropping the bottle of sleeping agent onto the ground. He bent down to pick up the chemical and stored it in his pocket for the future.

He was soon made aware of the presence of several others by the sound of light footsteps, and when he turned around he found his other Kage Bunshins with various scrolls, books, and items. With a curt nod to the group Naruto unstrapped the scroll from his back and unrolled it, while the Kage Bunshins started to deposit the items for sealing.

After everything was sealed and all the clones were dispelled Naruto kneeled down on the ground and reached in his pouch, taking out a kunai with his right hand. He untied his headband and gripped it with his left while he made a single horizontal slash across the smooth metal. He pocketed the kunai and looked one last time to the defaced badge of honor in his palm, the very last thing proving his ties to anyone or anything in his hand.

'I can still fix this… I haven't done anything wrong yet, I can still go back…'

"But do you really want to?"

Naruto looked up in shock to the face of a clone that had yet to dispel themselves. After the initial adrenaline died down the original Naruto looked back down to the marred headband.

"I don't know what I want to do… I mean, yeah I'm mad right now; I have every right to be. My team mate abandoned me and my supposed "love" betrayed me, but does that really justify me leaving here?"

The clone took a deep breath and walked over to his counterpart. He kneeled down and placed a hand on his shoulder and gave his creator a reassuring smile.

"That might be so, but does that mean we have to live in a place that so clearly doesn't want us? Don't we deserve to be happy too?"

The clone saw the hesitation and worry written over the original's face, but most of all he could see the fear of the unknown. The clone sighed and continued.

"We don't owe these people anything more than what we have already given them. This place has been our home for the past 13 years, and even with all the bad memories that will never change, but that doesn't mean this place has to be our grave. Our destinies are _ours_ to take as we want, and to _not_ try and change that would be that everything we fought Neji for would be a lie, and the Uzumaki Naruto I know doesn't lie."

The clone smiled and stood up again, extending his hand down to help out the original.

"Now, how about we go find ourselves a life worth living for?"

The original grinned and nodded, taking the extended hand and getting up on his feet. Naruto put the hood over his head and turned to his clone with a smile.

"Thanks, guess I'll see you next time then."

The clone smiled, and with a wave dispelled himself into a cloud of smoke.

Naruto took in one last deep breath of Konoha air, and with a single step forward made his way out to the open road with a single word spilling from his lips.

"Freedom…"

**END**

**Ok, so for pairings... well, i initailly thought that i should do a hinata redemption, but i am open to suggestions... I want an original fic here, so i think i should do a pairing that isnt done too often, or no pairing at all. Review and tell me your opinions.**

**Well, if you liked it, please let me know. Otherwise, have a good day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey everyone! I'm here to deliver on my promise of posting another chapter, and here it is! In case you hadn't read my other story, i have been pretty busy as of late (Just got back from Rock on The Range and finished up a grueling semester of Mechanical Engineering).**

**I'm very happy to say that this summer, i will spend quite a bit of time writing on many stories, even the ones i havent updated in months. So we all have that to look forward to.**

**From everyone's opinion (and a lot of my own too...) this WILL be a Hinata redemption fic, so i WILL have her come back into everyone's good graces, and back with Naruto, so ill go ahead and change that pairing right now. I also had some concerns about this becoming a Naru/harem pairing, and ill say this now: I will NEVER make a Naru/harem fic as long as i live. I have nothing against them, i just dont enjoy them as much as i enjoy the fics where Naruto is with only one woman.**

**Now, enjoy another chapter from yours truly!**

**Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto**

**_Chapter 2_**

"Ugh… What… What hit me?"

A teenage girl slowly opened her eyes and sat up . She saw that it was still dark out, probably an hour before dawn, but that just raised more questions.

"Why am I outside Naruto-kun's apartment so early in the morning?"

Hinata went to stretch her back, but felt a stinging pain on her neck. She instinctually placed a hand on the back of her neck and began rubbing the sore muscles.

"And why is my neck so sore?"

She closed her eyes and forced her mind to recollect the previous night. Then it all clicked, and her eyes shot open.

"Oh no!"

Hinata scrambled to her feet and applied as much chakra as she could to her feet as she propelled herself towards the Hokage's tower. Hinata began trying to put together how she would tell the leader of her village that the single most important person in her life went rouge and left the village literally hours after finishing a mission to return a team mate who had done the same?

"Tsunade-sama won't be happy at all…"

_With Naruto_

"Ugh… damn Teme… my scar is on fire!"

Naruto clutched his chest as he panted, jumping through the trees as fast as he could. He knew it was only a matter of time before a team was sent out to capture him, and he wanted as much of a head start as possible.

"I… I can't go on…"

Naruto fell to the forest floor in a heap, barely landing on his own legs. He rolled a few times and came to a stop at the base of a large tree, propping himself up against it as he took out his canteen and took a long sip.

"Shit… It's only been a few hours and I'm already exhausted…"

He looked around the dark forest, taking deep breaths and doing his best to recover as much as he could before he had to get moving again.

"I don't know they'll send out, but I have to hurry, I'm still injured… Ugh… next time I'm going to wait till I heal fully before I make any more life decisions…"

_With Hinata_

Said girl was currently in the middle of the Hokage's office, her head staring at her feet, using her willpower to withstand the barrage of questions from Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. As soon as Hinata had told her that Naruto left the village Tsunade had called all available shinobi.

Unfortunately since many were still outside on missions to keep up the show of strength, it was only the rookies minus Sasuke, Neji, Lee, and Chouji; who were all still recovering from their injuries. Luckily for Naruto Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara had left the day before, so they were unable to assist in the retrieval mission. Currently, Tsunade was getting the entire story before laying down the specifics of the mission those present were going to attempt.

"So let me get this straight, after Sakura and Naruto had a confrontation, he then finds out that Hinata, who had been secretly seeing him for some time, had accepted the Inuzuka's marriage contract. In his confused mental state he then decides to seal up what he owned, knocked Hinata out when she tried to confront him, and then left early this morning."

Everyone turned to Hinata, waiting for her answer, and with her head hidden as far down as she could she answered quiet as a mouse. "Hai… Hokage-sama…"

Tsunade sighed and leaned forward on her desk, rubbing her temples with her eyes closed. "I'm disappointed in you both, Sakura and Hinata."

Both girls shrunk further in on themselves in guilt, and it was silent for several seconds. To everyone's surprise it was Kiba who spoke next.

"Why didn't you tell me…"

The attention in the room was now focused on Kiba, but his attention was only on Hinata.

"I asked you if you were with anyone! I knew you had a thing for Naruto, and I asked if it was what you wanted! Why didn't you tell me you two were together, I would have taken back the marriage contract!"

Hinata looked between her peers and tried to find some support, but there was none. It was only her, alone against everyone else.

"I… I don't know… I didn't think my family… I didn't know if they would accept it…"

Kiba snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "There was nothing to accept! I would have taken back our offer and there wasn't anything the Hyuga could have done about it! Now Naruto is out there thinking I took you away from him, and he probably hates me for it…"

Hinata looked around the room in a panic as tears ran down her pale cheeks, but there was no sympathy, only accusative stares. She began panting as a cold spike of fear settled in her stomach, but there was no one there to comfort her. It was then she realized that the one person who would always comfort her, always hold her and tell her everything would be fine, was gone.

Naruto was gone… and it was her fault.

She made a break for the door, both to get away from the situation and to be alone as she wallowed in her sorrow, but she was halted by the Hokage's commanding voice laced with a substantial amount of chakra.

"GENIN HINATA HYUGA, HALT THIS INSTANT!"

She came to an immediate halt as images of her father and his harsh commanding presence ran through her mind, but luckily for her the Hokage's voice dropped back down to her regular pitch.

"Now, I didn't call you all here to place blame for Naruto's desertion, I called you all here to do something about it. Now, due to his loyal service for this past year and his sacrifice to Konohagakure, I'm going to mount a retrieval mission similar to the one performed to capture the Uchiha. Due to extraneous circumstances, there are no available Jounin or Chunin for this mission, and you Genin are the best we have, so it falls upon you to retrieve your wayward comrade. Are there any questions?"

There were glances shared around the room, but there was a unanimous silence.

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Good, then you leave in 30 minutes; you have until then to gather whatever supplies you think you would need. Naruto is still injured from Sasuke's chidori, so he shouldn't be able to have gotten very far."

Everyone heard a gasp, and everyone, minus Hinata, turned their attention to Sakura. She shrunk down a bit when she realized she now held everyone's gaze, but she continued on in a sheepish voice.

"Ano… Is it true Hokage-sama? Did Sasuke really use his chidori on Naruto?"

Tsunade looked Sakura in the eyes and sighed. "Yes, Sasuke willingly used his chidori on Naruto two times. The first was when Sasuke held Naruto up by the throat and aimed for his heart, but luckily Naruto was able to deflect the attack at the last second so it only pierced his shoulder. The second time was during their final clash and Sasuke hit Naruto in the abdomen, once again missing a lethal shot by inches."

Sakura held her hand over her mouth as tears fell from her eyes. She knew Sasuke and Naruto had fought, but it had been a harmless fight that got out of hand, it was just another one of their little scuffles, wasn't it?

"In short, Sasuke Uchiha willingly used an assassination technique against a longtime friend and comrade in hopes of murdering him in cold blood, and I will make it my personal mission to ensure that little prick never sees the light of day."

All the Genin in the room paled slightly from the anger in her voice, and no one dared to make a noise except from Sakura who was still sobbing lightly.

"Now, you all have 25 minutes remaining. If there are no other questions then you are dismissed."

Shikamaru and Ino helped the still sobbing Sakura out of Tsunade's office while Hinata followed shakily. Shino followed after his team mate with Tenten following soon after, leaving only Kiba in Tsunade's office.

"Hokage-sama… can I ask a favor?"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, obviously holding some anger towards one of the people responsible for driving her little brother figure away.

"It depends on the favor, but you may ask."

Kiba sighed. "If you see my mother, can you tell her to cancel the marriage contract with Hinata for me?"

Tsunade forced down the smirk that threatened to come forth. "I see, and what would be the reason for this? I doubt the Hyuga will easily accept such a flakey reason for such a large development with their heiress."

Kiba snorted slightly. "I don't care what those wrinkly old asses accept… The fact is that I betrayed Naruto, and I took away his mate, one of the biggest taboos in the canine world. Blood has been shed over lesser insults, and I can only hope that when we catch up to Naruto he doesn't kill me. I might not have been the best of friends with him, but I respected him more than enough to know that what I did was wrong… "

The blonde Hokage had a smile on her face by the end of Kiba's monologue. "I must say Kiba, I wouldn't expect the rashest person in Konoha to have been able to be so mature."

Kiba grinned and put his hands behind his head. "Hey, I wasn't voted the second most unpredictable ninja for nothing!"

Tsunade chuckled. "Indeed you are. Well, consider that contract dissolved. Now, I believe you have a mission to do, so you better hop to it!"

Kiba saluted and made for the door.

"Oh, and Kiba!"

The Inuzuka stopped and turned back around.

"Thank you…"

Kiba knew how close Tsunade and Naruto were, so he knew that what he was doing to help bring Naruto back was one of the greatest things in the eyes of his leader, so he just smiled and left her office.

As soon as her door closed Tsunade fell back in her chair exhausted. She took in a ragged breath and fell onto her desk, letting out her tears for the pain of her little brother.

* * *

Light flooded through the leaves and gently woke a young blonde shinobi from his respite amongst the roots of the forest. Naruto's eyes slowly crept open, trying to keep the offending luminescence from assaulting his corneas.

Naruto slowly leaned forward and stretched, cracking his back and relieving his aching muscles; sleeping among hard wood hadn't been the most therapeutic for his back. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up on shaky legs.

"Well… at least I feel better than last night, but it'll still be easy going. I can only hope that they can't catch up in time."

He looked around the forest and took a deep breath, and before he even finished letting it out he was jumping through the canopy in a way that only a shinobi could, unaware that he had already been found.

* * *

Two figures stepped out of the shadows of the forest and watched Naruto jump soundlessly through the treetops.

"You were right, he left Konoha after he brought back that Uchiha kid. How did you know he was going to go rouge?"

The other shadow shot his partner a glance and shook his head with a sigh.

"I already told you, the patterns were there. He had always been discontent with that village, it makes me seriously wonder why I ever sacrificed so much for it, but that is few and far between. Right now all we have to worry about is making sure that he comes with us. Besides, I can feel other shinobi on their way."

The first figure hefted his massive weapon on his shoulder and grinned.

"Yeah, I know, I can feel um too. Guess we better be off, we have prey to hunt."

Without a sound the two figures fell back into the shadows to continue their hunt.

* * *

The Genin were making their way through the trees with Shikamaru in the lead. The Nara looked back over his group momentarily before turning his attention back to the task at hand, but he couldn't focus, not on this.

'This time... I won't let any of my friends get hurt, even you Naruto!'

Back at the rear of the group, two out of three assigned for tracking Naruto were jumping along with their comrades, though the air was thick with tension. Hinata looked over towards Kiba and tried to think of something to say to clear the air, but she kept drawing a blank.

"Ano… Kiba-kun?"

The Inuzuka seemed to ignore her for second as he kept up his pace, but he eventually relented.

"What do you want Hinata?"

The Hyuga flinched slightly as the rough tone in his voice, but she knew that his anger was justified.

"I… I just wanted to say I'm sorry…"

Kiba looked over at his team mate with a disbelieving look before snorting in amusement.

"You just don't get it do you?"

Hinata opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but he cut her off before she could even utter a word.

"All this time I thought I would be saving you from this terrible fate. I thought that if I could get the Hyuga to let you marry me, then that would solve all the problems with you and your family. I was an idiot, because I thought that if I did this then I would be able to earn your love, or something along those lines."

Hinata just looked at him with a stunned look, so he continued.

"It never occurred to me that when I asked you if you were still single that you would be lying to me to hide your relationship with Naruto, and despite being your team mate for a year I still couldn't tell when you were pretending to like me."

"But I do like you!"

Kiba shot Hinata a glare. "As a team mate! Don't tell me that you could ever like me the way I like you, cause you and I both know that's a lie!"

Hinata lowered her head in shame, knowing that he was right. She could love him as a brother, but never romantically, no, there was only room in her heart for one.

"So when Naruto saw us together the other day, it must of destroyed him inside. Not only did his team mates abandon him, but then he sees his girlfriend with another guy? Now I know why you had to leave so early the other day, and why you were almost in tears. What did you say to him? What _could_ you say to him…"

Hinata didn't answer, she couldn't tell anyone of how badly she had handled the situation, of how much of a coward she had acted.

"Now you kind of get it. It wasn't just you and Sakura who drove Naruto to this, it was me too. I just didn't know it. Sakura destroyed his faith in his team, and you destroyed his faith in love. So don't apologize to me when we catch up to him, apologize to him if you can, because I don't think he will let us talk very much before he tries to kill us. I know I would."

With that Kiba jumped forward to let his team mate reflect on his words, unaware and uncaring of the moisture falling down her porcelain cheeks.

* * *

Naruto stumbled through the leaves into a clearing, slightly panting and clearly strained.

"Damn this injury! Hey asshole Kyubi, if you're going to tag along for the ride, then at least have the decency to heal me a little damn quicker!"

"Having such a freeloading tenant must be such a bother."

Naruto jumped in the air in surprise, grabbing a kunai out of instinct and dropping down into a defensive posture.

"Who's there!?"

A light chuckle rang throughout the clearing, shortly thereafter two figures emerged from the shadow of the trees.

"It's you two! The two guys that tried to capture me when Ero-Sennin was training me!"

Indeed, in front of Naruto stood no other than Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi, adorned in their Akatsuki cloaks and looking no less imposing than they had in the past. It was Itachi that spoke first.

"Your memory is at least adequate, that is good to know. Indeed, we are the same who measured your skills and reported them back to our organization's leader, and needless to say he was most… intrigued… by your progress thus far, even more so when I told him that the majority of your skills have been self-taught."

Naruto gripped his kunai tighter. "How do you know all that?"

Kisame chuckled and readjusted his sword on his back. "Kid, we have more spies than your pervert of a teacher could ever hope to have in the wildest of his wet dreams. We know everything there is to know about the Jinchuriki, or the ones we know of. In fact, we even know about the two little gems you have sealed in your wrists there."

Naruto reflexively rubbed his wrist where a very special sealing array was carefully drawn. Naruto snapped his attention back to the two in front of him, gathering his courage and putting up his bravest front. He flipped his kunai in reverse grip and brought it up to his neck.

"Ok, so you know a little about me, so what? What do you two want? And no sudden movements or I off myself and then all you assholes can have fun trying to tame the Kyubi when he's out of my gut!"

Kisame grinned like a madman and was about to give a remark, but Itachi held up his hands to dismiss any suspicions before the ex-Kiri nin could say anything.

"Calm down, we only want to talk. In fact, we have a deal that you would probably like."

Naruto looked between the two for a few seconds, and then finally relented, bringing his kunai down from his throat.

"Ok, I'm listening."

Itachi smirked only the way an Uchiha could, something that pissed Naruto off to no end.

"Well, like we said before, we have a great interest in your potential. Much like you, much of what I learned was self-taught. Many people mistake me for a prodigy of the highest degree, but they never saw the hours and hours of rigorous training I went through from an early age, in fact, if you had a Sharingan and a semi-positive environment, I'm sure you could have easily become the shinobi I did at that young an age."

Naruto snorted. "I would have never done what you did! I would never kill my entire family!"

Itachi sighed and a pang of sadness flashed in his eyes.

"No… you probably wouldn't… but we aren't here to talk about that. Now, our leader has told us to come to you with an offer. Join Akatsuki, learn what you can, and become the shinobi he believes you can be. We promise you a place to call your own, where you aren't judged on your past, but your skills alone. You won't be hunted or persecuted by hunter nin, and you will be able to reside in a village where you can build a new life for yourself. All we ask for in return, is your discretion, your loyalty, and the Kyubi."

Naruto snorted. "I don't think that's a bad deal except for the fact that I die as soon as you drag the Kyubi out of me!"

Itachi chuckled. "That wouldn't be very much of a deal if we asked for your death now would it? No, we will develop a way to extract the Kyubi without killing you."

Naruto looked down at the ground a while, mulling over their deal in his head over and over. In fact, there weren't really any downsides, he would be trained by the best shinobi in the world, he would be given a place to build a new life, and he would finally be able to stick it to the one responsible for all the misery in his life.

While Naruto was thinking about their offer Kisame sensed the presence of new shinobi, coming in fast.

"Oi, Itachi…"

The Uchiha nodded and turned back to Naruto.

"It seems like we will have company shortly, think about our offer, and if you intend to accept, we'll find you. Goodbye."

Before Naruto could respond they both disappeared, seemingly vanishing into thin air, and just as they left several thuds were all the warning Naruto had that he was no longer alone in the clearing. He knew who was there, and he knew why there were there, which made it that much harder. Taking a deep breath Naruto turned around to come face to face with the healthy members of the rookies.

"So, what is it you guys want? Hell, that's a stupid question; I know what you all want. You want me to go back to a place that would sooner beat me within an inch of my life than listen to anything I have to say. Go back to a place where comradery and friendship mean nothing more than a pile of shit and loyalty is as common as a non-smug Uchiha. Is that it?"

Before anyone could say anything a light sniffling could be heard from the back of the group, and a voice as quiet as a mouse sounded out.

"Please… Please come back Naruto-kun! I'm so sorry, please come back home!"

Naruto clenched his teeth. "Save it Hinata. I don't want to hear your excuses... It's partly your fault that I don't have a home to come back to anymore! I had to give it all up just so I could sleep at night!"

As Naruto was addressing Hinata Kiba stepped forward, causing Naruto to take a step back and get into a defensive position.

"What do _you_ want Kiba? You've already taken Hinata from me, what else do you want? Do you want to kill me too, or are you just here to gloat?"

Kiba shook his head. "Hear us out Naruto! I'm sorry that things happened the way they did, I never meant to do all that to you. I honestly didn't know that you and Hinata were together, and I even asked her! I know you're angry right now, but don't do this man! You don't have to go rouge to change things! I know Hinata is honestly sorry for what happened, and I even had Tsunade get rid of the marriage contract between her and I. Hell, I'm even willing to bet that even Sakura will apologize to you since she didn't know all the facts before she yelled at you."

At this Sakura stepped forward from the rear of the group with a dejected look on her face.

"Please Naruto… I already lost one team mate, I don't want to lose another… Not like this… I didn't know how bad Sasuke was, and I didn't know that he tried to kill you, so please end all this and come back home…"

For a second Naruto's posture lightened. He dropped his arms and let the sadness finally show on his face. For the first time since he deserted Konoha he looked like the old Naruto, the Naruto that held his heart on his sleeve and put everyone else before himself.

And then he straightened and jumped back several feet.

"So that was your plan all along wasn't it?"

Everyone looked puzzled with the exception of one.

"Troublesome…"

Naruto snarled and bit his thumbs, drawing a small amount of blood on the pads of his fingers.

"So, you were planning on waiting until I was distracted by all their lies, and then you were going to trap me with your shadow techniques eh? And then what? Have Ino invade my mind, or have Hinata Jyuken me useless, or even have Kiba knock me out to prove that he's the alpha or some kind of canine shit like that?"

Hinata stepped forward with tears in her eyes and a pleading look on her face. "I'm begging you Naruto-kun, stop all this! Come back home with us… Come back home with me… Please…"

Naruto stopped for a second as he saw the raw emotion in her face and voice. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, unable to look in her eyes, or he knew he would lose his resolve.

"I'm sorry Hina-chan… but…"

He brought his thumbs across his wrists, causing two puffs of smoke to appear, and making everyone's eyes widen in surprise and horror. In his right hand was the massive sword Kubikiribōchō held across his chest with the blade pointed towards the Konoha shinobi, and in his left hand was the fabled Raijin, favorite sword of the Nidaime Hokage, held in a reverse grip behind Naruto's body.

"I don't have a home anymore."

**END**

**Ok, now, here's what i want you all to do. There are two paths this story can take:**

**1) Naruto goes with Itachi and Kisame (something i came up with on the fly, though i have read two other stories where he does that) and he joins the Ame (Rain) shinobi force**

**2) Naruto does not join them and i get to decide what he does next, that'll be an interesting one**

**Now, tell me either PM/review which one would make a better story, and dont worry, I will make sure whichever path is chosen will become a very good story with as much original ideas i can think of (always open to suggestions)**

**Well, that's about it**

**Peace!**


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